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What 29 October 2024 showed on two fronts
Summary
A look back at a day of Russian claims in Donetsk Oblast and a first known Ukrainian drone strike in Chechnya.
What did the war look like on 29 October 2024? Two reports from that day pointed in different directions: Russian advances in the east, and a drone strike deep inside Russia.
On that date, Russia claimed to have taken the cities of Selydove and Hirnyk in Donetsk Oblast. Open-source data indicated that Russian forces were advancing at their fastest pace in at least one year, amid signs of North Korean involvement in the war. Donetsk is part of Ukraine's easternmost regions, which, together with Luhansk and Kharkiv, have been a theatre of operations since the invasion began in February 2022.
A drone strike in Chechnya
The same day, a drone strike targeted a Special Forces University in Gudermes, Chechnya. It was the first known drone attack in Chechnya by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, vowed to retaliate harshly against Ukraine.
Reading the two together
The reports describe a pace of fighting that favoured Russia on the ground in Donetsk Oblast, alongside a Ukrainian strike reaching a Russian republic far from the front line. The Russian claims on Selydove and Hirnyk were Moscow's own assertions, while the open-source data on the speed of advance and the signs of North Korean involvement were separate indications of how the war was developing.
Kadyrov's vow of harsh retaliation was a statement of intent. The reports from 29 October 2024 did not specify what form any response would take.
